In the essay, “Aria:Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood,” Richard Rodriguez exposes the readers to the nature of being bilingual and living in America. Richard Rodriguez not only emphasizes the sound of language but also the context behind it. Through his paragraphs, he goes into depth about the education system, the public, private, and intimacy language, and how much coming home has changed over the years for him. In his essay, “Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, Rodriguez uses anecdotes, strong arguments, and his own voice to successfully argue that bilingual education is impractical, and a child using their native language as well as English in school and public life is not needed. In the first chapter, Rodriguez talks about the struggles of growing up in a Mexican home but when he leaves his house, he enters a whole new world. Using anecdotes Rodriguez states, “I was a bilingual child, a certain kind - socially disadvantaged - the son of working-class parents, both Mexican immigrants” (Rodriguez 322). Rodriguez uses many anecdotes like this throughout the essay to persuade his readers that being bilingual isn’t an advantage. As a child it can be very difficult going to a school where English is the primary language, and so Rodriguez felt that his native language was one that was private. His language was not socially acceptable by others and so he felt that he was obligated to learn the public language which was English. And until he learned English he didn’t feel welcomed into the American society. Rodriguez states, “At last, seven years old, I came to believe what had been technically true since my birth: I was an American citizen” (Rodriguez 330). Another anecdote he exposes here, his character shows the readers how much being bilingual to him was an inconvenience. Because being bilingual in America can be hard especially being a little kid in school,